Intentions to Marry, 1915 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840461, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915e contains pages 1973-2618, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 2425

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1915

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

721

3 September 1915

Frank William Mason
Ethel Beatrice Sutherland

Frank William Mason
Ethel Beatrice Sutherland
💍 1915/2573

Bachelor
Widow 21 September 1913

Farmer

31
33

Stewarts Gully
Christchurch

7 years
4 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4655

3 September 1915

Registrar

No	721
Date of Notice	3 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank William Mason	Ethel Beatrice Sutherland
	💍 1915/2573
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 21 September 1913
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	33
Dwelling Place	Stewarts Gully	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4655
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

722

4 September 1915

William Henry Bennington
Annie Chinnery

William Henry Bennington
Annie Chinnery
💍 1915/4302

Widower 12 May 1913
Widow 23 July 1910

48
50

St. Albans
St. Albans

4 days
7 years

House of W. H. Bennington 578 Barbadoes St. Christchurch

6500

4 September 1915

Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

No	722
Date of Notice	4 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Bennington	Annie Chinnery
	💍 1915/4302
Condition	Widower 12 May 1913	Widow 23 July 1910
Profession
Age	48	50
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	4 days	7 years
Marriage Place	House of W. H. Bennington 578 Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	6500
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin Presbyterian

723

6 September 1915

Charles Levick
Annie Joyce

Charles Levick
Annie Joyce
💍 1915/2574

Bachelor
Widow 18 August 1913

Carpenter

30
31

Christchurch
Sydenham

15 years
Life

Registrar's Office Christchurch

4656

6 September 1915

Registrar

No	723
Date of Notice	6 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Levick	Annie Joyce
	💍 1915/2574
Condition	Bachelor	Widow 18 August 1913
Profession	Carpenter
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	15 years	Life
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	4656
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Registrar

724

6 September 1915

Frank Harington Bennetts
Olive Philippina Ambrose

Frank Harrington Bennetts
Olive Philippina Ambrose
💍 1915/4303

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Farmer

29
26

Riccarton
Linwood

10 days
19 years

Holy Trinity Church Avonside

6501

6 September 1915

Rev. O. Fitz Gerald Anglican

No	724
Date of Notice	6 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Harington Bennetts	Olive Philippina Ambrose
BDM Match (98%)	Frank Harrington Bennetts	Olive Philippina Ambrose
	💍 1915/4303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Farmer
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Linwood
Length of Residence	10 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church Avonside
Folio	6501
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitz Gerald Anglican

725

6 September 1915

George Chesmar
Fanny Nicholas

George Chesmar
Fanny Nicholas
💍 1915/4335

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
21

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

20 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. S. Miller Prebbleton

6502

6 September 1915

Rev. S. E. Hill Presbyterian

No	725
Date of Notice	6 September 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Chesmar	Fanny Nicholas
	💍 1915/4335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. S. Miller Prebbleton
Folio	6502
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. E. Hill Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).